Progress 08/04/01 to 01/26/05
Outputs
1. What major problem or issue is being resolved and how are you resolving it (summarize project aims and objectives)? How serious is the problem? What does it matter? Annual Report for this project was completed in FY 2004 and was marked as final at that time.
Impacts
(N/A)
Publications
- Hagenmaier, R.D., Goodner, K.L., Rousseff, R., Do, H. Storage of `Marsh' grapefruit and `Valencia' oranges with different coatings. Proceedings of the Florida State Horticultural Society. 2002. v. 115. p. 303-308.
- Bai, J., Alleyne, V., Hagenmaier, R.D., Mattheis, J., Baldwin, E.A. Formulation of zein coatings for apples. Postharvest Biology and Technology. 2003. v. 28. p.259-268.
- Bai, J., Hagenmaier, R.D., Baldwin, E.A. Volatile response of four apple varieties with different coatings during marketing at room temperature. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. 2002. v. 50. p. 7660-7668.
- Bai, J., Hagenmaier, R.D., Baldwin, E.A. Coating selection for `Delicious' and other apples. Postharvest Biology and Technology. 2003. v. 28. p. 381- 390.
- Dou, H., Hagenmaier, R.D., Ju, Z., Curry, E. Food oils reduce postharvest pitting and influence the storage quality of grapefruit. Proceedings of the Florida State Horticultural Society. 2002. v. 115. p. 283-287.
- Hoa, T.T., Ducamp, M.N., Lebrun, M., Baldwin, E.A. Effect of different coating treatments on the quality of mango fruit. Journal of Food Quality. 2002. v. 25. p. 471-486.
- Rajkowski, K.T. and Baldwin, E.A. Concerns with minimal processing in apple, citrus and vegetable products. Novak, J., Sapers, G., Juneja, V., editors. CRC Press., Boca Raton, FL. Microbial Safety in Minimally Processed Foods. 2002. p. 35-52.
- Bai, J., Baldwin, E.A. Postprocessing dip maintains quality and extends the shelf life of fresh-cut apple. Proceedings of the Florida State Horticultural Society. 2002. v. 115. p. 297-300.
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Progress 10/01/02 to 09/30/03
Outputs
1. What major problem or issue is being resolved and how are you resolving it? The quality of fruits and vegetables declines after harvest because of ripening, senescence, shrinkage, softening, flavor change and spoilage. This project's objectives are the development of postharvest storage and handling technologies, especially the use of edible coatings, to minimize quality loss and spoilage for both whole and lightly processed fruits and vegetables. The work includes formulation and testing of edible coatings, including those suitable for organic-labeled produce, under different conditions of harvest maturity, storage temperature and atmosphere, as well as other postharvest treatments. It also includes pretreatment of intact fruit prior to processing fresh-cut products. The project seeks to better understand the relationship between coating properties and fruit quality so that the processor can make better decisions on selection of coatings. 2. How serious is the
problem? Why does it matter? Quality loss affects commodity marketability. Postharvest losses are difficult to document and variable, but at times amount to over half of the harvest. Due to water-loss citrus fruit tend to shrivel and become unmarketable within a few weeks from harvest if a protective coating has not been applied to replace the natural protective wax that is removed by normal packinghouse washing. Unwaxed apples tend to be unattractive because of stains and low gloss, and as a result, suffer from reduced sales. Thus, fresh citrus, apples and some other produce items are treated with edible coatings to improve appearance and extend shelf life. It is widely recognized that there is much room for improvement in these coatings, especially to overcome the disadvantages of some commonly used ingredients. For example, shellac coatings tend to discolor when exposed to humidity and can cause flavor problems. There is also a need to develop alternative coatings that might
be used in case commonly used ingredients lose approval, availability or consumer acceptability. Our major focus is to minimize quality losses while extending shelf life, to develop coatings to that are tailored to specific requirements of different commodities, and to understand the effect of coating permeability on fruit quality characteristics. For example, the flavor of fresh citrus fruit deteriorates within a few days at room temperature when high-gloss, low permeability coatings are applied. This fruit would benefit from alternative formulations. The extension of postharvest quality consists in solving these and other problems, thus making it possible to create new opportunities and markets; for example, shipping produce to new and distant locations, or to reduce shipping costs by using slower transport methods. Such accomplishments would benefit the coating and fresh produce industries as well as consumers. 3. How does it relate to the National Program(s) and National
Program Component(s) to which it has been assigned? Program 306, Quality and Utilization of Agricultural Products (100%). This research will develop new processes and products to enhance fresh fruit and vegetable quality, and to maintain this quality during shipping and storage, thereby relating to National Program 306, Component 1: Characterization, Preservation, and Enhancement. A NRI Grant was established with University of Florida cooperators (ARS scientist is CO- PI) for work on fresh-cut tomato and mango fruit. 4. What were the most significant accomplishments this past year? A. Single Most Significant Accomplishment during FY 2003: Currently, adequate procedures are not available for testing the different ways that coatings affect the flavor quality of citrus fruit by restricting respiration and trapping ethylene and flavor volatile gases inside the fruit. The Citrus and Subtropical Products Laboratory addressed this need by developing new methods for rapid, non-destructive
determination of barrier properties to different gases of citrus fruit, treated with different coatings. This fundamental work showed that the rate of carbon dioxide exchange was found to be inhibited to a greater extent than that of ethylene and other hydrocarbons. This information helps to understand that different flavor and ripening gases leak out of the fruit through the coated peel at different rates, explaining why fruit flavor quality depends on the type of coating used on the fruit. 5. Describe the major accomplishments over the life of the project, including their predicted or actual impact. A number of new products have been developed. These include: 1) the patented coating, Nature Seal, a protectant for fresh-cut apple, potato and carrots, licensed by Mantrose Haeuser Inc. and used to develop a cut- apple protocol in cooperation with New Zealand HortResearch; 2) a high- gloss apple coating made from zein (corn protein); 3) a patented high- gloss coating made from
polyvinyl acetate; 4) a coating to prevent oxidative off-flavor of pecans, currently being tested by Mantrose Haeuser Inc.; 5) candelilla wax-shellac blends for apples; 6) and several hundred other formulations that were less successful. These coatings offer more choices to the processor to improve quality. Work on development and testing of edible coatings has generated over $300,000 in extramural support from such companies and organizations as Brooks Tropicals, Seald Sweet Association, American Soybean Association, Florida Department of Citrus and Washington Tree Fruit Research Commission. A novel procedure for reformulating undersize pieces of candied citrus peel into larger, more desirable shapes was developed and the process has been commercialized. Low-dose irradiation of fresh-cut lettuce and carrots reduced microbial contamination without adversely affecting texture. A survey that showed high levels of the microbial populations of commercial fresh-cut salads attracted
the interest of three major supermarket chains. Research showing how shellac-resin coatings adversely affect the flavor quality of citrus fruit after removal from refrigeration, especially mandarin varieties, has led processors to use more wax-based coatings for mandarin varieties. Separate work has shown that ethanol concentration of citrus fruit still in refrigeration is markedly increased with high- gloss coatings. Low-permeability coatings, such as those containing shellac, were shown to be not suitable for Braeburn and Granny Smith apples, but appropriate for Red Delicious. The impact will be that packers can make a more informed decision on a wider selection of coatings for fresh produce. 6. What do you expect to accomplish, year by year, over the next 3 years? FY2004. Continue work on leakage rates of flavor components out of produce during storage and how this is affected by coatings. Determine how leakage rates and coatings affect fruit flavor quality. Determine how
coating composition affects chilling injury of late-season grapefruit in order to extend the season, which could be an important new market for the grapefruit industry. Determine how whole fruit pretreatments affect the quality and shelf life of fresh-cut fruit. Explore formulations that would be considered acceptable for organic produce and compatible with biological control agents. FY2005. Develop methods to improve the quality, edibility and storability of fresh-cut produce while controlling the growth of spoilage organisms. This would include application of biocontrol agents and anti- microbial essential oils in coatings designed for compatibility. Coatings and surface treatments carrying biological control agents and anti-microbial essential oils would also be tested on whole fruit. Continue work with pretreatments. FY2006. Continue work testing new coatings for fresh and organic produce, with antimicrobials. Continue with work with pre-treatments of whole fruit as well as
surface treatments and coatings to control quality loss and decay of fresh-cut produce, especially tropicals. 7. What science and/or technologies have been transferred and to whom? When is the science and/or technology likely to become available to the end- user (industry, farmer, other scientists)? What are the constraints, if known, to the adoption and durability of the technology products? Information on the patented polyvinyl acetate coating was given to several interested parties and presented at the Florida Technology Transfer Showcase in Ft. Pierce, Florida. Information or samples of coatings were sent to interested parties in the U.S., Vietnam, China, Nova Scotia and Maritimus. Talks on gas exchange of citrus fruit were presented to The Annual Citrus Processing and Technology Conference in Lake Alfred, Florida and to the Annual Meeting of the Florida State Horticultural Society in Orlando, Florida. An invited talk on pre- treatment of whole fruit for effect on fresh-cut
quality was presented at the International Fresh-Cut Association Annual Meeting in Tampa, Florida and another invited talk was given at the Postharvest Institute at the Florida FACTS meeting in Lakeland, Florida, and finally, a presentation on this topic was given at the Florida State Horticultural Society. A CRIS scientist traveled to China to assist in solving tangerine quality problems brought about by improper selection of coatings. A CRIS scientist was invited to Singapore to work on pre-treatments for fresh- cut tropical fruits and gave a seminar while there. 8. List your most important publications in the popular press and presentations to organizations and articles written about your work. (NOTE: This does not replace your peer-reviewed publications listed below). "A revised model for gas exchange in fruit" and "Effect of 1-MCP treatment on apple quality and flavor using electronic nose and other analyses" presented at the Citrus Processing and Technology Conference, Lake
Alfred, FL, October 17, 2002 (attended by citrus processors, growers, consultants and scientists and published in a proceedings). "High-gloss polyvinyl acetate coatings" presented at the Florida Technology Transfer Showcase, Fort Pierce, FL, October 29, 2002 (attended by agricultural processors, growers, consultants and scientists and published on CDROM). "Postprocessing dip maintains quality of fresh-cut apple" presented at the International Fresh-Cut Association Annual Conference, Tampa, FL, April 5, 2003.
Impacts
(N/A)
Publications
- Hagenmaier, R.D., Goodner, K.L., Rousseff, R., Do, H. Storage of `Marsh' grapefruit and `Valencia' oranges with different coatings. Proceedings of the Florida State Horticultural Society. 2002. v. 115. p. 303-308.
- Bai, J., Alleyne, V., Hagenmaier, R.D., Mattheis, J., Baldwin, E.A. Formulation of zein coatings for apples. Postharvest Biology and Technology. 2003. v. 28. p.259-268.
- Bai, J., Hagenmaier, R.D., Baldwin, E.A. Volatile response of four apple varieties with different coatings during marketing at room temperature. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. 2002. v. 50. p. 7660-7668.
- Bai, J., Hagenmaier, R.D., Baldwin, E.A. Coating selection for `Delicious' and other apples. Postharvest Biology and Technology. 2003. v. 28. p. 381- 390.
- Dou, H., Hagenmaier, R.D., Ju, Z., Curry, E. Food oils reduce postharvest pitting and influence the storage quality of grapefruit. Proceedings of the Florida State Horticultural Society. 2002. v. 115. p. 283-287.
- Hoa, T.T., Ducamp, M.N., Lebrun, M., Baldwin, E.A. Effect of different coating treatments on the quality of mango fruit. Journal of Food Quality. 2002. v. 25. p. 471-486.
- Rajkowski, K.T. and Baldwin, E.A. Concerns with minimal processing in apple, citrus and vegetable products. Novak, J., Sapers, G., Juneja, V., editors. CRC Press., Boca Raton, FL. Microbial Safety in Minimally Processed Foods. 2002. p. 35-52.
- Bai, J., Baldwin, E.A. Postprocessing dip maintains quality and extends the shelf life of fresh-cut apple. Proceedings of the Florida State Horticultural Society. 2002. v. 115. p. 297-300.
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Progress 10/01/01 to 09/30/02
Outputs
1. What major problem or issue is being resolved and how are you resolving it? The quality of fruits and vegetables declines after harvest because of respiration, ripening, senescence, weight loss, softening and spoilage. This project's objectives are the development of postharvest storage and handling technologies, especially the use of edible coatings, to minimize quality loss for both whole and lightly processed fruits and vegetables. The work includes formulation and the testing of new edible coatings under differing conditions of harvest maturity, storage conditions and other postharvest treatments. It also seeks to better understand the relationship between coating properties and fruit quality so that the processor can make better decisions on selection of coatings. There is also a lack of suitable coatings for `organic' fruit and vegetables. Other technologies are investigated to prolong fresh produce shelf life including pretreatment of intact fruit prior to
processing a fresh cut product. 2. How serious is the problem? Why does it matter? Quality loss is considered a problem for the fresh produce industry when it affects marketability. Such losses of unmarketable produce are difficult to document and are variable, but at times, amount to over half the harvest. Fresh citrus fruit becomes non-marketable within a couple of weeks because of shriveling of the peel if a protective coat is not applied to replace the natural protective waxes after packinghouse washing. Unwaxed apples tend to be unattractive because of stains and low gloss, and suffer from reduced sales. Thus, fresh citrus, apples and many other fruit and vegetable products are treated with edible coatings to improve appearance and extend marketability. It is widely recognized that there is much room for improvement in these coatings, especially to improve the flavor of fresh citrus fruit and apples; to develop alternative coatings for use in case of change in regulations,
availability or consumer acceptability of shellac, carnauba wax and other commonly used coating ingredients; to reduce the discoloration caused by exposure of shellac and some other coatings to humidity; and in general to develop coatings that are tailored to the specific requirements of different fruits and vegetables. However, extension of postharvest quality is not only solving a problem, by extending the shelf life and quality of fresh produce, but also creating new opportunities and markets in that fresh produce can be held longer and shipped to new and distant destinations. Extension of shelf life can allow for surface rather than air shipment, thus reducing shipping costs and prices passed on to consumers. 3. How does it relate to the national Program(s) and National Program Component(s) to which it has been assigned? National Program 306, Quality and Utilization of Agricultural Products (100%). This research will develop new processes and products to enhance fresh fruit and
vegetable quality, and to maintain this quality during shipping and storage, thereby relating to National Program 306, Component 1: Characterization, Preservation, and Enhancement. The Washington Tree Fruit Research Commission has funded projects to improve and evaluate coatings for apple. A NRI Grant was established with University of Florida cooperators (ARS scientist is Co-PI). 4. What was your most significant accomplishment this past year? A. Single Most Significant Accomplishment during FY 2002: The fresh fruit industry in general has a poor understanding of how different coatings affect fruit quality and would benefit from clarification on this issue. Since quality is affected by the extent to which a coating affects internal gas composition of the fruit, experiments were designed to better understand how coatings affect internal gases by measurement of internal gases in relationship to coating permeability properties at the location and in cooperation with Washington Tree
Fruit Research Commission. It was found that the existing model of gas exchange between fruit and atmosphere is defective, because it does not take into account the Poiusuille flow of gases caused by different total pressure inside and outside the fruit, which in turn, is caused by differing gas exchange rates of carbon dioxide and oxygen, now documented. The impact of this finding is that the model for gas exchange is even more complicated than was previously thought, however, with this new data, a new model can be developed and will be more accurate. B. Other Significant Accomplishment(s), if any: Fresh-cut fruits and vegetables, including apple slices, deteriorate more rapidly than their intact counterparts, and are in need of new techniques to safely extend their shelf life. Pretreatments of intact apple fruit using heat or volatile chemical exposure were evaluated on the subsequently prepared fresh cut apple slices with or without experimental coatings at the location in
cooperation with USDA, Wenatchee, WA and the Washington Tree Fruit Research Commission. Both heat and ethanol vapor treatment of whole apples and coating treatments for slices led to an improved and longer lasting sliced apple product. These results offer the fresh-cut industry user friendly mechanisms to improve the quality and shelf life of cut apples, and these techniques may be effective on other fresh cut products. 5. Describe your major accomplishments over the life of the project, including their predicted or actual impact? A number of new products have been developed. These include, 1) the patented Nature Seal, a protectant for fresh-cut apple, potato and carrots, licensed by Mantrose-Haeuser Inc. and used to develop a cut apple protocol for apples in cooperation with New Zealand HortResearch; 2) a high-gloss apple coating made from zein (corn protein); 3) a synthetic high-gloss coating made from polyvinyl acetate, which was patented; 4) a coating to retard oxidation and
the resulting off-flavor of pecans, currently being tested by Mantrose-Haeuser Inc., for possible commercialization; 5) candelilla wax-shellac blends for apples, 6) and several hundred other formulations that were less successful. These coatings offer more choices to the processor to improve quality. Work on development and testing of edible coatings has generated over $300,000 in extramural support from such companies and organizations as Brooks Tropicals, Seald Sweet Association, American Soybean Association, Florida Department of Citrus and Washington Tree Fruit Research Commission. A novel procedure for reformulating undersize pieces of candied citrus peel into larger, more desirable shapes was developed and the process has been commercialized. Low dose irradiation of fresh-cut lettuce and carrots reduced microbial contamination without adversely affecting texture, and a survey of the microbial populations of commercial fresh-cut salads suggest that such a reduction was
needed. This work has attracted the interest of three major supermarket chains. A continuing subject of the coatings research has been to show that the flavor quality of citrus fruit is adversely affected by shellac-resin coatings. This applies to oranges and grapefruit, but especially to mandarin varieties, and is attributed to the low gas permeance of these coatings. This research has led processors to use more wax-based coatings for mandarin varieties and to be more attentive to storage temperature abuse which can exacerbate flavor damage. Similar work was done with apples, to show that different varieties of apples need different coatings of differing permeability. The low-permeability coatings, such as those containing shellac, are not suitable for Braeburn and Granny Smith varieties, but are apparently okay for Red Delicious. The impact will likely be that packers can make a better-informed selection of coatings for specific apple varieties. 6. What do you expect to
accomplish, year by year, over the next 3 years? FY2003. Continue work to show how coating permeability and other properties affect fruit quality in order to improve the general understanding of this phenomena. The work to date has shown that the present model is not valid, and more work needs to be done to improve the model. Develop coatings to maximize the quality of late-season grapefruit, which is a priority research area of the Florida citrus fresh fruit industry. This follows on preliminary work last year, which showed that the type of coating impacted the quality of grapefruit kept in cold storage for an extended time period. Develop and test coatings for tropical fruit, which tend to have very short shelf life because of rapid respiration, and continue to develop coatings and/or pre-treatments for extension of cut fruit quality. FY2004. Develop new edible coatings for fruits and vegetables. Test these coatings, which have known composition, in comparison to selected
commercial coatings of unknown composition, with the goal of developing an information base for processors to select the best possible coating for usage with fresh produce. Continue our study of how coatings affect fruit flavor with relation to their affect on release of volatile flavor compounds (esters, aldehydes, alcohols) from inside the fruit. This will involve measurement of internal pressures and evaporation rates of these compounds from the fruit, and the permeability or different coating materials to desirable and undesirable flavor compounds. FY2005. Develop new/improved existing commercial coating for organic produce, commercialize pretreatments of intact fruit for improved fresh- cut product. 7. What technologies have been transferred and to whom? When is the technology likely to become available to the end user (industry, farmer other scientist)? What are the constraints, if known, to the adoption durability of the technology? Techniques for making wax emulsions were
taught to visiting scientists. The work on apples that has been funded by Washington Tree Fruit Research Committee was again reported and presented at the annual meeting of their Apple Post Harvest Research Review. Samples of coatings for fruits and vegetables were provided to interested parties. These contributed coatings have been the subject of a number of published papers by these cooperating scientists. Information on the patented PVA coating has been sent to private companies who inquired about it in response to publicity from the Office of Technology Transfer. 8. List your most important publications and presentations, and articles written about your work (NOTE: this does not replace your review publications which are listed below) "Performance of coatings of differing gas permeability on the quality of grapefruit, cantaloupe and apples" and "Response of E-nose to aroma change in apple during CA storage and subsequent coating" presented at the Subtropical Technology
Conference, Lake Alfred, FL, October 19, 2001 (attended by citrus processors, growers, consultants and scientists). "Fresh-cut produce" presented at FACTS Postharvest Institute, Lakeland, FL, May 22, 2002. "Electronic nose evaluation of MCP-treated apples" presented at the Washington Tree Fruit Research Commission Postharvest Review, Yakima, WA, July 26, 2002.
Impacts
(N/A)
Publications
- McGuire, R.G., Hagenmaier R.D. Shellac formulations to reduce epiphytic survival of coliform bacteria on citrus fruit postharvest. Journal of Food Protection. 2001. v. 64(11). p. 1756-1760.
- Hagenmaier, R.D. The flavor of mandarin hybrids with different coatings. Postharvest Biology and Technology. 2002. v. 24. p. 79-87.
- Hagenmaier, R.D. Ethanol content of `Murcott' tangerines harvested at different times and treated with coatings of different oxygen permeability. Proceedings of the Florida State Horticultural Society. 2001. v. 114. p. 170-173.
- Bai, J., Baldwin, E.A., Hagenmaier R.D. Alternatives to shellac coatings provide comparable gloss, internal gas modification, and quality for `Delicious' apple fruit. HortScience. 2002. v. 37(3). p. 559-563.
- Hagenmaier, R.D., Shaw, P.E. Changes in volatile components of stored tangerines and other speciality citrus fruits with different coatings. Journal Food Science. 2002. v. 67. p. 1742-1745.
- Baldwin, E.A. Commercialized biotechnology, food for thought. HortScience. 2002. v. 37. p. 446-447.
- Baldwin, E.A., Baker, R.A. Use of proteins in edible coatings for whole and minimally processed fruits and vegetables. Gennadios, A. editor. CRC Press LLC, Boca Raton, FL. Protein-Based Films and Coatings. 2002. p. 501- 515.
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